Process for refining emulsified compounds



PROCESS FOR REFINING EMULSIFIED COMPOUNDS Original Filed Feb. 4, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l GasProJucer Fuel O 2 Supply 96 10s Crude Oil 7'0 Conafenscrs W: Eer cog To Mixing Machines i.

Pressareflfower Afbmizers fieaciion Chamber Air Healer Furna ce Q06 amnion Producer Burner 3 $1, Fag? Aug. 21, 1934. R. H. RUSSELL PROCESS FOR REFINING EMULSIFIED COMPOUNDS Original Filed Feb. 4, 1930 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HOE co a0 I180 mt zer F 5 1 m w W :L .m; & a G C u a m a P s 3 3 a c I WWW m G L e J H r .m m MM W J p n w To Condenser- Coilecor Cone m a M My d HM P m a w 0% 2m m C 7\ I AA 1 Patented Aug. 21, 1934 PROCESS FOR. REFINING EMULSIFIED COMPOUNDS Robert H. Russell, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Gas Fuel Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Original application February 4, 1930, Serial No.

425,857. Divided and this 25, 1931, Serial ,No. 525,295

application March 1 Claim (01. 196-67) "This invention relates to emulsified compositions including hydrocarbons, and more particu-- larly to novel methods for refining such compo sitions. The present application is a division of myapplication Serial No. 425,857, filed February 4, 1930.

'It is well known that at the present-time, oil emulsions are generally treated in order to ,dehydrate the same. The dehydration methods maybe classified into six groups, as followsz," 1,

gravity settling; 2, heat treatment 3, electrical treatment; 4, chemical treatment; 5, centrifugal treatment; and 6, filtration. Ithas been found necessary to treat emulsified oils by'such methods 1 before subjecting the oil torefining processes. One of the objects of the present invention is to incorporate such emulsified oils in emulsified compositions'whichmay be directly treated in order to refine the 011 without the necessity of 1 dehydrating the emulsified oil.

Furthermore, I have found that in processing relatively heavy oils, for instance, low A. P. I. gravity hydrocarbons, such as heavy crude petroleum, oil field emulsions, still bottoms and the" like, it is advantageous to thoroughly mix the same with aqueous'fiuids, providing the mixe; ture is admixed with a gaseous agent. suchfl'as air, gas containing 002 or'the like. For examp1e ,I have discovered that if heavy hydrocarbons; i water and a suitable gas are thoroughly agitated in 1the 'presence of one another under super-5 atmospheric pressure, that a composition: will result, in whicheach globule of gas or other B1255. tic fluid is coated with a film of water arranged .within' a film or coating oftheoil, and this compound will remain in such condition indefie. fiite'ly, so that it may be immediately ,orjsubsequently refined for the purpose ofconlverting the heavy hydrocarbons into lighter hydrocarbons.

By adding suitable hydrocarbons for instance, tothe'heavy oils whichare to forfn constituents ofthej composition, I can'al'so obtain 'fromfthe refining of the composition, motorfuels having desired characteristics. For example,'bei1'zol is mixed with the heavy oil that forms a con stituent of the composition, and this composit'ion is subsequently refined, for instancegby a cracking operation, motor fuels extractedfrom the refining process will have benzol characteristics, that is, anti-knock properties.

Another object of the invention is to provide a process in which still bottoms orthelike are employed in the manufacture of a composition; particularly suitable for fuel purposes, this com position beingmixed with preheatedaii' or its equivalent under pressure, and also with steamif desired, the mixture being burned and the products of combustion being utilized to heat another composition containing crude oil for example, for the purpose of converting such crude oil and any other suitable hydrocarbons which may be added thereto, into a hydrocarbon mixture; containing gases, vapors and solids, which may be separated to produce desired products.

With the foregoing objects outlined and with other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel'feat'ures hereinafter described, in detail, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and'more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. .l is.a diagrammatic view of one form of apparatus which has been designed to use the composition in the refining of hydrocarbons. V

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic View of an apparatus designed first to use the composition in making a gas and producing steam, and for then utilizing this gas and steam in the refining of the hydrocarbons ifi'another similar composition.

Fig. 3, is a'vertical sectional view of a portion of 'a' refining apparatus in which the mixture is converted by electricheating elements. a IThe apparatus employed for producing emulsified compounds of the type used in the presentinvention; is disclosed in the above mentioned .pplication and comprises a closed chamber'ca pa blef'of withstanding relatively high supere' atmospheric pressures, and provided with horizontallydisposed rotatable shafts, each having along its length a multiplicity of agitating blades. or arms that violently stir any fluids within the, casing; c v

In accordance with the'present invention, for exampledow A. P. I gravityhydrocarbons, such a s heavy crude petroleum, oil field emulsions, still bottoms and'the like,'which are ordinarily unsuitable .or uneconomical for refining, arc intr'oduced into the casing along with water and a s'uitablegas, such as air.

{If the mixing process is carried on as a batch operation, a suitable quantity of compressed air or other suitable gas will be introduced into the ca'sing'afid after the desiredproportions of oil, aqueous liquid and 'gas are introduced, the shaftswill be rapidly rotated to cause the blades tic-violentlyagitate-thecontents of the casing, so asto forcethe constituents of the composition tcccoalesee andtenaciously adhere to one an other. Under the microscope it has been found that the gas, such as air, due to the agitation, will disperse and form globules or bubbles, each one of which will be coated with a film of water contained within a skin of oil, and it hasjbeen found that a composition of this nature will remain in this condition indefinitely. Actually, such a composition has remained in stable condition for a period of more than a year without should be operated uponunder pressure to produce the composition which may be subsequently used as charging stock for oil refining. I

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, mixtures are manufactured containing carbon dioxide in place of air, to prevent pre-ignition of the composition and such mixtures are used for fuel and refining purposes in an oil refining system. For example, still bottoms from a tank 90, and water from a tank 91 may be fed by a pump 92 to a mixer 15 of the type shown in the application heretofore referred to and in the mixer they will be thoroughly admixed under pressure with stack gas containing CO2 which enters by way of a pipe 93 that is joined to a compressor 94. This compressor receives the gas by way of a conduit 95 from the stack 96 of a furnace.

A composition comprising still bottoms or the like, water and gas containing 002, is fed from the mixer 15 by way of a conduit 97 to a burner 98 which heats the furnace 99 in which the stack gas is generated. The burner may be of any suitable type and hot air is fed to the same through a conduit 100 which is connected to a coil 101 located in the furnace. blower 102 supplies this coil with air.

The furnace includes a boiler. 103 for the generation of steam, and some of this steam if desired may be fed by a pipe 104 to the burner 98, so that a mixture of the composition and hot air under pressure, and steam if desired will be utilized in the burner 98 for fuel purposes. The steam may also be 'used'fo'r clearing the burner of the composition on shutting down, to prevent carbo'nization of the burner.

' Some of the composition from the mixer 15 is also fed through a conduit 105 to a second burner 106, and this second burner may also receive some steam from the boiler of the fur nace by means of pipe 108. i

The burner 106 is usedinithe heating of a second furnace 109, and the heatof this furnace is employed in a coil110 toheat pressure air which flows from a second pressure blower .111

through a pipe 112 to the coil, and from thelatter, through a conduit 113 which supplies the burner 106 with the hot air which supports furnace loe are fed througha conduit 115 whichcommunicates with manifolds 116 that supply A pressureatomizers 117 with the hot products of combustion. These atomizers are supplied with a refining composition under pressure by means of branch pipes 113 which lead to the atomizers from the" discharge conduit 119 of a second mixer 15 which may be of the type shown in the parent application. This mixer receives stack gas containing 002 from the compressor 94 by way of tube 120, but instead of using still bottoms in this mixer, as a constituent of the composition, I prefer to use crude oil or the like. This oil is fed from a tank 121 by a pump 122 which forces the same into the oil inlet of the mixer, and water is fed by the same pump from a tank 123, to the water inlet of the mixer. By mixing other hydrocarbons with the constituents going to make up the composition, the characteristics of the resultant refined product may be varied. For example, benzol from a tank 124, or gasoline from a tank 125 may be mixed with the water fed to the mixer 15 and the composition made up of oil, water and gas contain ing CO2, is fed under pressure from the. latter through the pipes 119 and 118 to the atomizers, where it is expanded and mixed with the highly heated products of combustion from the furnace 109, and atomized into the chamber 114.

If desired, steam from the pipe 108 may also be,

receivers or the like, (not shown), for the purpose of separating the liquid constituentsfrom the gaseous constituents.

Any solids, tars, etc., which may be precipitated in the chamber 114 may be withdrawn from the latter by way of a valved pipe 129.

. If desired, each atomizer 117 may be provided with a rotary agitator, not shown, and these agitators may be driven by suitable transmission means from motors 130.

The interior of the chamber 114 may be of any suitable'construction, and in the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, I prefer to place withinthe same, a perforated and corrugated collector cone 131 which acts as a bafile, and also functionstocollect solids which gravitate to the bottom portion of the reaction chamber 114.

1 Instead of utilizing hot products of combustion to 'eifect the thermal decomposition of the hydrocarbons; in accordance with the system i1 lustrated in Fig. 2, the composition may be re fined in a reaction chamber provided with heating elements and a catalyzer if desired. For instance, in the modification shown in, Fig. 2,

water and still bottoms from tanks 140,141 may be forced by a compound pump 142, to a mixer 15? of the type'shown in the parent application and in this mixer they will be thoroughly admixed under pressure with asuitable gas such as air entering through a pipe 143. Thecomposition from this mixer can be admixed with air or other highly heated gas, and burned in a gas producer 144, whichxmaybe employed to produce steam and gascontaining C02. The steam from this producer is discharged by way of conduit 145, and'the hot'gas containing CO2 is discharged through a pipe 146.

; 1 Water from a tank 147, and crude oil or the like, from a tank 148, are also fed by a pump 149, into another mixer 15 where they are mixed with air or other gas entering through a tube 150. The composition from the latter mixer is fed through a conduit 151 to atomizers 152, and the composition is preferably injected into these atomizers. In the atomizers, the composition is expanded and is mixed with hot gas containing CO2 from the pipe 146 and steam from the pipe 145, and the gaseous mixture entering the reaction chamber, 153 is highly heated by any suitable means, and preferably at super-atmospheric pressure to thermally decompose hydrocarbons in the composition from the mixer 15 and the gaseous mixture resulting from the treatment in the reaction chamber 153 is discharged by way of pipe 154, which leads the same to suitable condensers, not shown, employed in separating the light hydrocarbons, such as gasoline, from the mixture.

From the foregoing it will be understood that I have devised novel methods and apparatus for utilizing a composition of hydrocarbons, air or other gas, and an aqueous liquid, that may be used for the production of refined petroleum products.

If refined petroleum products are desired, as the end products, it will be understood, the initial procedure, so far as the production of the composition is concerned, is the same as when the composition is to be produced for fuel purposes,

that is, a composition composed of hydrocarbons, water and gas is made, and to the same is added other elements that may be desired in the end products, for example, benzol, etc., and from the reaction chamber in which the composition is processed while admixed with gas containing CO2 and/or steam, the gaseous mixture resulting from the process is passed through any suitable means for the purpose of extracting desired products from the same.

While I have disclosed the principle of my invention, as well as my methods and apparatus in such manner that they may be readily understood by those skilled in the art, I am aware that changes may be made in the details disclosed, Without departing from the spirit of the invention, as expressed in the claim.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a process of the character described, forming an emulsified composition comprising water, hydrocarbon oil and a gas containing a high percentage of carbon dioxide, each globule of gas in the composition being coated with a film of water arranged within a film of oil, mixing said composition with hot products of combustion and thereby converting the hydrocarbon oil into lighter hydrocarbons, and separating said lighter hydrocarbons from the resulting mixture.

ROBERT H. RUSSELL. 

